Pleading In The Alternative (Noun)
Meaning
A pleading that alleges facts so separate that it is difficult to determine which facts the person intends to rely on.
Classification
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents.
Examples
- The defense attorney's pleading in the alternative confused the jury by claiming the defendant was never at the scene, yet also alleging that the defendant was acting in self-defense if they were indeed present.
- The judge chastised the prosecutor for filing a pleading in the alternative that combined unrelated claims of intentional misconduct with separate claims of gross negligence.
- After filing the lawsuit, the plaintiff's attorney revised the complaint to include a pleading in the alternative, further muddying the waters by adding new claims that seemed to contradict the original allegations.
- In a pleading in the alternative, the defendant asserted that the contract was invalid due to lack of consideration, yet also claimed that even if the contract was valid, the defendant had not breached its terms.
- The trial was delayed for weeks as the judge struggled to make sense of the defendant's convoluted pleading in the alternative, which seemed to shift the burden of proof onto the prosecution while also denying any wrongdoing.